In a move that could redefine India's tech landscape, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son, IT Minister Nara Lokesh, inked a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google on Tuesday, paving the way for the tech giant's largest data center and AI hub outside the United States. Valued at $10 billion—with potential scaling to $15 billion—the project targets Visakhapatnam as the epicenter of a 1-gigawatt (GW) facility, part of an ambitious 6GW data center cluster.

In the 1990s, when Andhra Pradesh’s then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu transformed a quiet stretch of Hyderabad’s hinterland into what the world would come to know as Cyberabad, few could have foreseen how profoundly it would reshape India’s digital economy. Three decades later, Naidu is doing it again—this time on the shores of the Bay of Bengal.

With Google’s monumental $10 billion investment, Visakhapatnam is poised to become the new nerve center of India’s tech ecosystem. The landmark agreement signals a tectonic shift—one that could tilt the balance of technological dominance away from Hyderabad toward coastal Andhra.

Naidu’s political career is inseparable from India’s tech story. In his first tenure as Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, he was the driving force behind Hyderabad’s IT boom, wooing global giants like Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM, and giving birth to the city’s now-iconic HITEC City. That experiment redefined urban growth, created lakhs of jobs, and turned Hyderabad into India’s Silicon Valley.

Today, history seems to be repeating itself. Having returned to power in 2024, Naidu has reimagined Visakhapatnam, the scenic, industrial port city long overshadowed by Hyderabad, as the new digital frontier. “We brought Microsoft to Hyderabad then. Today, we are bringing Google to Visakhapatnam,” Naidu said at the MoU ceremony. “Technology evolves, but vision endures.”

The Google project is no ordinary investment. It’s designed not just as a data facility but as the foundation of an “AI City”, a self-contained innovation zone powered by renewable energy, high-speed fiber optics, and smart infrastructure.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian described it as “a new global connectivity hub,” linking Visakhapatnam to 12 countries through undersea cables. The facility will use state-of-the-art Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) to enhance AI processing speeds, supporting products like Gemini AI, YouTube, and Gmail directly from India.

“This will be Google’s largest investment outside the United States,” Kurian said, adding that the project will also train 10,000 youth in AI skills, making Visakhapatnam a breeding ground for next-generation innovators.

Since returning to power, the Naidu-Lokesh duo has made Andhra Pradesh the hottest new destination for investors. Through a series of global roadshows, from Davos to Dubai, they have secured over ₹1.14 lakh crore in new projects via the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB).

Lokesh, the state’s tech-savvy IT Minister and Naidu’s son, has been instrumental in courting Google. He led negotiations, securing assurances on power supply, taxation, and environmental compliance. “This is not just about investment,” Lokesh said. “It’s about putting Andhra Pradesh and Indiaon the global AI map.”

For decades, Hyderabad has been South India’s crown jewel for global investments. With its cosmopolitan charm, mild climate, and robust infrastructure, it seemed untouchable. But recent years have seen a slowdown. Bureaucratic delays, regulatory backlogs, and land bottlenecks have begun to dampen investor enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh has surged ahead under Naidu’s aggressive investment reforms offering 72-hour clearance windows, tax stability, and single-window digital approvals. The state’s coastal advantage, combined with its expanding ports and logistics corridors, gives it a unique edge in a data-driven economy that demands both physical and digital connectivity.

Even analysts who once dismissed Visakhapatnam as too small for Silicon Valley dreams are now revising their views. Hyderabad was Naidu’s first masterpiece; Vizag is his second.

The Google deal may well mark the beginning of a multipolar South, where technology investment no longer revolves around one city. With Bengaluru nearing saturation and Hyderabad facing administrative fatigue, Visakhapatnam could emerge as the new frontier, a city where ports meet processors, and trade meets technology. Amid global uncertainty, Andhra Pradesh’s ability to attract a project of this scale is not just a regional success but a national statement. For Naidu, it’s also personal, a vindication of his legacy as India’s “CEO Chief Minister,” the man who twice changed the trajectory of the nation’s technology map. Hyderabad gave India its first IT revolution. Vizag will give it the AI revolution. Both have one common architect — Chandrababu Naidu.

The Google – AP MoU  A Historic Partnership

In a glittering ceremony at the Taj Mansingh Hotel, the Government of Andhra Pradesh signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google to establish India’s largest data and AI center in Visakhapatnam.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, State IT Minister Nara Lokesh, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian were present. The MoU envisages a $10 billion initial investment, with the potential to rise to $15 billion over five years.

“This is not just an investment, it’s a partnership for India’s digital future,” Naidu said, expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his visionary leadership in driving the project. He said, “This marks a new era for Andhra Pradesh, and for India itself too. We are proud to be at the forefront of shaping the country's AI future by hosting India's first gigawatt-scale data centre and Google's first AI hub in India.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hailed the initiative as a model of cooperative federalism, crediting Naidu’s visionary governance for Andhra Pradesh’s resurgence. Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasized that the project would generate high-end employment and global exposure for India’s youth.

Minister Nara Lokesh called it a new chapter in India’s digital revolution, pledging that Andhra Pradesh would ensure seamless execution through rapid approvals and dedicated green energy corridors.